Campy Record or Chorus: Bikefanclub.com

Here is another in agreement. If I had the money I'd buy a D'Fly right now. I really doubt that I would be appreciably faster than on my Luna. That doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have one, ride one and enjoy one.

A superior rider will always be faster than an average rider even if they are on a slower bike. Heck Lance could beat the vast majority of us (if not all of us) on a Huffy. However is that a reason not to buy and enjoy a high end bike because someone could pass you? I don't think so. Plus you add to that you are buying at a shop discount and it is even more of a reason to buy the very best while you can. Who knows what next year can bring? One of my best friends is gravely ill right now and he was in fantastic condition. He contracted Hepatitis B somewhere in his past and it has destroyed his liver. If he doesn't get one very soon he is gone.

Will a rider with a coach on a regimented training program improve more than someone buying high zoot wheels? I would think as much. I was just reading today at Active.com drills to improve your sprinting ability. They sounded brutal, painful and not a great deal of fun. I really don't care if someone outsprints me to the stop sign. I improved my running once by doing fartleks. I dropped my racing time by a minute a mile. Then I went off even that little bit of training to do a cross state bike ride. In a short time I lost all the gain. Now I don't even time my runs I just have a nice time going down the road.

I enjoy the ride too. I also don't care if I'm the first up a hill or the last. I just care that I get over the hill. I'm in a highly competitive sales field. I need more competition and grief from it like a hole in the head.

A funny thing happened at last summer's MS 150. Our ride is straight out. My wife meets me at the end so I don't have to bus back. This year we were riding the husband of her best friend part way back to his car. He had ridden with me on some Tuesday night club rides. My legs are tired from the weekend and as I said I really don't care if I'm the fastest or not. He also rode with me one day and we talked. To make a long story shorter, he thinks he is too good to ride with me. He is "faster" and "stronger" and I'm just not good enough for him. He never came right out and said it but it became obvious.

Well this year my wife was mad at me because she had to get home to do her grade book and as usual I slept in and got a late start. She said I better get in and get there fast. That was compounded by having to go to the bathroom. The faster I rode the more people I caught and the longer the lines were for the Porta Potty. So I kept hammering until lunch with no lines since I caught the back of the front. I called my wife she was thrilled I was ahead of time and I just rode the rest of the way in.

Well we got there and no Dave. After some time my wife called (now mad at him) and said where are you? His response was well Lon can't be there yet. My wife replied I had been there for 30 minutes and she had to get going.

Dave made it and immediately started to ask questions to confirm that I could not have possibly been faster than him. Did I leave early? No. Did I ride pace lines? No. Did I skip rest stops? No Did I skip lunch? No Did I not talk with friends from the shops? No The poor man was having a nervous breakdown over this. Fat Farr can't be faster than Thin Dave who is always faster than me. Then he looked at my computer not believing it yet. Then his poor mind started to go even more. I had a higher average speed...not by much but enough to total him. Then he said I had to have been drafting since he was in pace lines. I said no I don't trust other riders that much and the only drafting was a teenager drafting me through a headwind.

Well this continued all the way back to his car. It really was fun to see his reactions. However he still could not admit that I rode faster than him for that day and that ride that his parting comment was: "I guess I better buy a Calfee."

We are not all about fast. I like some of the other comments am about enjoying myself. Sometimes it means I hammer, sometimes I loaf, sometimes inbetween. I ride my ride whatever it is for that day.

When my son gets out of school and hopefully I'll have some extra money I want to get a Dragonfly in nude with the best of whatever I can afford that is practical for day to day use by a 215 pounder. I'm not going to pass someone who is faster than me on it. But I'm sure going to enjoy riding it and looking at it as I lift weights. (My bikes are by my equipment.)

One last funny story. I was on a century ride with several friends. One bored at our speed asked if we minded if he rode ahead. I think Dave and I were happpy since we were almost dying trying to keep up with him as it was.

Well Brian had a shaved head, a bunch of tatoos, mountain bike shorts and shoes, and a t-shirt. His wife is a great cook so he had a noticible paunch. He was riding ancient Italian steel with a mix of parts.

Ahead of us was the University of Pittsburgh Bike Team. They love to park together and pose looking like a cover from Colorado Cyclist. They were all on ti Dean's.

Now what I did not mention is Brian was a bike messenger for about 10 years. He caught the Pitt Team on a brutal 3 mile climb and decided to have some fun into lunch. He started to ride about 30 yards behind them. They noticed him and decided to blow him off. They look back and there he is 30 yards back. They form a disciplined pace line and there he is 30 yards back...shaved head, tatoos, and belly. Well he tortured them all the way to lunch.